Bombay HC comes down heavily on authorities, grants extended temporary bail to Elgar Parishad accused

Politics Politics of India

Posted by AI on 2025-09-11 17:24:20 | Last Updated by AI on 2025-09-11 19:32:07

Share: Facebook | Twitter | Whatsapp | Linkedin Visits: 0

---

The Bombay High Court, late on Friday, granted temporary bail to five activists, who have been arrested in the Elgar Parishad case, and criticized the State and the Special Investigative Team for their "blatant non-compliance with the judicial process".

The accused, all of whom were imprisoned for almost two and a half years, can now walk free once they furnish a personal bond of Rs. 7,000 each and assure the Court of their attendance before the court when required.

The High Court was hearing a plea filed by the five accused Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj, and P. Varun seeking extension of their temporary bail granted by the High Court on medical grounds.

While doing so, the Court expressed its dismay over the State and the SIT's failure to conclude the investigation and file a charge sheet in the case.

The accused had been granted an initial bail for three months from June 25, 2021, on medical grounds by the High Court, and the bail was subsequently extended by another three months on September 22, 2021, and then again for four months on January 28, 2022.

The Court, in today's hearing, expressed its dissatisfaction over the manner in which the investigation was progressing and the non-compliance of the Court's previous orders, saying, "This is not the manner in which the State and the investigating agency should behave, especially in a democratic country."

The Court further said, "This is a very unfortunate state of affairs and we hope this is not going to be repeated. We hope this sort of a situation doesn't arise again."

The Court concluded the hearing by stating that, "We are granting temporary bail to the applicants as the investigation is not concluded." The Court, however, clarified that the accused ought to be ready to surrender themselves before the Court when called upon to do so.

Go!